May my mind dwell in courtyards of the Siddha Bakula tree!

Siddha Bakula Tree

I have been thinking of writing this post since long. It's about a place/tree – Siddha Bakula in Puri, Orissa – which, I was longing to visit ever since I came to know about it. But when we visited Jagannath Puri, in June last year, I made it a point to visit Siddha Bakula, along with my friend Premanand. Actually, it was the last day of our yatra excursion in Puri. It was about noon, and we were hungry. But, going for lunch meant not being able to spend much time at Siddha Bakula. As I had been struggling with my chanting for last few weeks, I was in urgent need of some inspiration; a place, where I could contemplate and pray, to improve in quality of my chanting in times to come. Depending on Krishna for our lunch, we eventually decide to go there.

Brief History of Siddha Bakula: Siddha Bakula is the bhajana-kutir of Haridasa Thakur, where he daily chanted 3,00,000 names of Krishna (Practically more than 20 hours a day). Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu requested Haridasa, "Remain here and chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. I shall come here daily to personally meet you. Remain here peacefully, and look at the Chakra on top of Lord Jagannath's temple and offer obeisances. As far as your prasadam, I shall arrange to have that sent here." In order to provide shade for Thakur Haridasa, Sri Chaitanya planted a teeth cleaning twig, used by Lord Jagannath. All of a sudden, it grew up and appeared as a great shade tree. Rupa Gosvami recited ‘Lalitha Madhava’ and ‘Vidagdha Madhava’ under this tree to Sri Gauranga and his followers. Sanatana Gosvami, during his stay in Puri, lived here with Haridasa Thukur. This is where Haridasa Thakur left his body here and Lord Chaitanya danced in ecstasy holding in his hands his sacred body.

In due course of time, to construct Lord Jagannath's Rathayatra cart, the ruling Gajapati Maharaja of that time, ordered his officers to cut down this tree. The next morning, the royal officers found the tree hollow and thus returned without cutting it. The main branch of the tree is petrified (became like a stone), to the touch. This is the part that was transformed, so the king would not take it.

                                                                                                    

Importance of visiting Holy Places: In this age of Kaliyuga, in all major religions of the world, chanting of Lord's holy names is practiced as the very essence of spiritual life. The process of chanting purifies one’s heart and evokes experiences of ecstatic feelings of devotion in his relationship with the Lord in his perfected stage of chanting. The holy names, when chanted purely, have spiritual potency beyond the jurisdiction of material factors of time, place and circumstances. Similar spiritual potencies are also invested in certain places, on account of residence of Lord himself or that of spiritually perfected souls. And to access that spiritual potency and store it in the core of hearts (to access it later, in times of our need), is the main purpose of going to such holy places.

Our Visit & A beggar’s appeal: Hence, we were determined to access the mercy available at Siddha Bakula. Along with Premanand, I chanted there for a few hours. Being in the extremely spiritual potent place paid off. We found ourselves deeply absorbed in the sound vibration of the Holy Names, which doesn't otherwise happen so easily. Our intense prayers to Srila Haridas Thakur were to bestow his mercy upon us, to be able to relish the nectar exuding from the chanting of the holy names, to develop taste for chanting. We also got special Mahaprasadam of the presiding deities at that place :-) to fill our empty bellies.

Srila Haridas Thakur

Thereafter, whenever vicious thoughts distract me during chanting, I try to think of Siddha Bakula and Haridas Thakur. In remembrance of them, I feel, just as a pauper proud of his shack may feel on visiting a billionaire’s mansion –completely humbled! I realize how insignificant and tiny is my desire to chant the holy name attentively and purely. In such a mood, the begging for mercy becomes very easy. I heard HH Radhanath Swami saying in one of his lectures, “We have to beg to Krishna while chanting every mantra. We have to pray – I don't have any taste in chanting; please give me taste. We have to beg to get taste in chanting.” Haridas Thakur was most affluent person in terms of taste for chanting the holy names. Lord Chaitanya named him as "Namacharya", which means, "Acharya of the holynames". I pray to him and it works beyond imagination; since, in spiritual life, remembrance itself carries the same spiritual potency as that of the object of remembrance. Undulating waves of thought in my mind get settled and I get strength and desire for chanting. Because of this, of the various places that I have visited, Siddha Bakula has a special corner in my heart!

I pray to get constant remembrance of Siddha Bakula and Haridas Thakur.

May my mind dwell,

In courtyards of Siddha Bakula tree.

Get intoxicated, chanting holy names,

Relish transcendental drinking spree.

May I pass time,

Chanting and hearing Nama, lost in serenity.

May I sing, dance and swoon,

Oblivious to world. Let them call it absurdity.

May my heart, become clean and pure,

Contamination accumulated may disappear.

May I serve the Lord, Srila Prabhupad,

And his mission, dedicated and sincere.

May I get the mercy of

Thakur Haridas... one fine day.

And Hare Krishna Nami, Jagannath Swami,

Nayan Patha Gami Bhavatu me.

(May Lord Jagannath be the object of my vision)

Kaun Banega Arjuna?

 Last month, a major gang-rape–cum-assault incident in the nation’s capital instigated a huge uproar throughout the nation. The victim, eventually, succumbed to her injuries on December 29, after struggling for 13 days.

Srimad Bhagavatam explains that amongst the four pillars of religion – truthfulness, austerity, cleanliness and mercy – the last three are already extinct in this age of Kali-Yuga. Only the principle of truthfulness continues to survive in some tiny proportion; though, even that is on a gradual decline. This fact was highlighted in this recent incident, when our society could not tolerate such a gross violation of law and order of country of India, which brags "Satyameva Jayate" (Truth Alone Prevails) as its national motto.  When a woman, Draupadi, was forced to strip off her clothes, Lord Krishna felt the necessity to wage a war. And the famous Mahabharata war ensued. Unfortunately, in the same India,  24,206 rape cases were reported in 2011 (what to speak of unreported cases!). Although the public is demanding stronger laws to prevent such acts, this will only result in a superficial treatment of such problems, unless the root cause of the problem – our polluted hearts – are treated. Such incidents like rape are just an external manifestation of our internal disease of boiling lust. In fact, we see striking similarities between the setting scene of the Mahabharata war and the current scene of world, which calls for a Mahabharata-like war to be fought against the enemy of lust.

In the Mahabharata war, the Kauravas were the antagonists, representing irreligion; while, the Pandavas were the protagonists, battling to uphold the righteous principles. In the modern setting, the enemy is the lower nature of one’s own self; and battling with it is a higher nature, which wants to abide by righteous principles.

Before the war, it was the unholy counseling of people like Shakuni and Kaliraj, which prompted Duryodhana and his associates to go to extent of attempting to strip off Draupadi. Similarly, in the modern setting, the media, cinema and TV offer the unholy counseling by facilitating widespread propaganda of ideas like free sex, hedonism, consumerism, etc.

It was Dhritarashtra, whose duty was to restrain the Kauravas and guide them on the right path. On account of selfish interests, however, he failed to do so. At the same time, wise people like Bhisma and Dronacharya kept mum against the atrocities of Duryodhana and his associates, which gave way for the evil deeds of Duryodhana to thrive without any guilt. Similarly, the modern governors, who are supposed to restrain the unholy forces, have failed to do so, because of their own political and selfish interests. At the same time, a handful of wise people, who have the right knowledge and are free from personal interests, have shut their mouths to bury themselves safely in their comfort zones.

Just like Arjuna – the hero of the Mahabharata war – was bewildered and unwilling to fight in the war against his own kith and kin, because of his intense attachment with them; similarly, the common man, who is in the same situation as Arjuna, due to excessive attachment, is unwilling to fight in the war against the enemy of one’s lower nature, which precipitates in the form of lust and greed in one’s heart.

Just as Krishna – the Lord and universal guru – made Himself available to both parties; but, it was the Pandavas, who took His help and emerged victorious. Similarly, it is the spiritual master, who is coming in the same line of succession from the Lord, in the parampara system, and who is as good as the Lord, making himself available to everyone out of his mercy; but, there are very few people willing to benefit from him.

In the battle of Mahabharata, Lord Krishna, who was the incarnation for that age, instructed Arjuna to fight. And when Arjuna was hesitant about success, Krishna assured Arjuna that he will be victorious just by becoming an instrument. Similarly, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who is yugavatar for this age, instructed to fight against one’s lower nature and help others in doing so. He proclaimed,

bhärata-bhümite haila manuñya-janma yära

janma särthaka kari' kara para-upakära

It translates as “One who has taken his birth as a human being in the land of India [Bhärata-varña] should make his life successful and work for the benefit of all other people." Lord Chaitanya also assures of the success –

prithivite ache jato nagaradi gram,

sarvatra prachara hoibe mora nam

which means, Lord's holy name will be chanted in the nook and corners of this world. Since Lord is the personification of religion and His names are non-different from Him, this statement of the Lord assures victory of righteousness in the battle against evil. Few people might have longed (At least in fantasy) to be in the position of Arjuna, as in the historic battle of Mahabharata, directly carrying out the instructions of the Lord in the middle of a raging war. The same opportunity is as well available to each one of us, to be like Arjuna, with help from the Lord and His bonafide representatives, to wage the war against the enemies in our own heart and help others. And one cannot escape this battle. If he takes the side of the Lord, emulating Arjuna, his higher nature wins the battle; otherwise, one obviously falls prey to the lower nature emulating Duryodhana.

So, are you ready to be the Arjuna?